In 2015, the 56th annual Biennale art show officially runs May 9 to November 22—though events actually started in February.
Started in 1895, this international art exhibition now receives more than 300,000 visitors every year (well, every-other year).
In concept, it's a bit of a throwback to the old world's fairs and and expos focused on technology, in that each nation mounts its own show.
Between 70 and 80 countries usually participate, and each country gets a padiglione (pavilion) or exhibition space in which to show off their greatest contemporary artistic talents.
The traditional space, and core of the Biennale, is inside the Arsenale (the Renaissance-era—yet still functioning—navy yards) and the nearby Giardini Pubblici public gardens—way out on the eastern end of Castello—but increasingly shows are curated in spaces scattered all across town.
It also now lasts from the spring until late November, and has begun incorporating film, music, and dance (and those frequently continue in the even-numbered years as well).
It's invariably interesting, and with so many hundreds of artists (the official expo usually has around 100, but plenty of smaller, unaffiliated shows pop up across town) and thousands of works on display, you're bound to like at least some of it.
Keep in mind this is modern art, so there is far more video art, oddball sculptures, and high-concept installation pieces than your traditional, straightforward paint-on-canvas or block-of-marble-pleasingly-carved type of art.
This can make for a wonderful vacation from all the Old Masters in Italy's museums, but it can also lead to potential damage to your peepers from all the inevitable eyeball rolling.
(Last time I attended, the Arsenale's first large space featured a gargantuan chandelier, maybe 20 feet across and 30 feet high, which hung from the center of the ceiling all the way down until it nearly brushed the floor, glittering slightly in the gloom. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be made entirely from shrink-wrapped tampons. Ah, art.)
La Biennale di Venezia ★★★
Offices: Palazzo Ca' Giustinian Lolin, San Vidal 2893, San Marco
Main exhibition space: Arsenale, Castello
tel. +39-041-521-8711
www.labiennale.org
Open Tues-Fri 10am–6pm, Fri-Sat 10am-8pm
€25 (single admission), €30 (2-day pass), €80 (annual pass)
Museum Pass: No
Vaporetto: Arsenale (1, 4.1, 4.2, B) or Giardini (1, 2, N, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 6, 8)
Planning your day: Seriously, if you're in town when the Biennale is on, you must take at least 2 hours to visit at least the works in the Arsenale space, despite the steep admission—if for no other reason than you normally cannot get into these rooms at the Arsenale.
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La Biennale di Venezia ★★★
Offices: Palazzo Ca' Giustinian Lolin, San Vidal 2893, San Marco
Main exhibition space: Arsenale, Castello
tel. +39-041-521-8711
www.labiennale.org
Open Tues-Fri 10am–6pm, Fri-Sat 10am-8pm
€25 (single admission), €30 (2-day pass), €80 (annual pass)
Museum Pass: No
Vaporetto: Arsenale (1, 4.1, 4.2, B) or Giardini (1, 2, N, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 6, 8)
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